M^ 




014 110 343 A • 



HoUinger 

pH 8 J 

MiU Run F03.2193 



w 1 




I^ Deep Htpcr 



If rank ^f 



u^ 



mh ^anvUtn 



iillltiiilil 

014 110 343 A ' 



H. 



104 
3 ri42 
oy 1 




lb Deep ^ipcr 



Jrank 3- fMatli^r 

IRiu^r ICibrarg AsBoriattott 




(0rtob0r, Ntnetff n f unbr^li mh 3mxUtn 




GEORGE READ 

Chief Eounder of the Village 

reproduced from an old daguerreotype owned 

by mr. mather 



f f 



OLD DEEP RIVER 

(TOWN OF SAYBROOK, CONN.) 



♦» 



An Address delivered there by Frank J. Mather for the 
benefit of the Library Association; giving a true 

ACCOUNT OF the ORIGIN AND EARLY GROWTH OF 
A TYPICAL NeVV^ EnGLAND ViLLAGE 



Printed for the benefit of the Deep River Public Library 



^;> 



THE P^EtV EHA PRESS, 

DEEP RIVER, CONN. 

191-1. 






"OLD DEEP RIVER" 



I would like to say, preliminarily, to the friends who have so 
kindly assembled, that it has long lain on my mind and heart that 
the traditions of the early, formative, life of the village ought to be 
handed down alike in justice to the Pioneers and to the genera- 
tions succeeding them. 

It would have been a relief to me to have found someone 
better equipped for the task; but I could find no one reaching 
back to the days of which I shall speak on whom I could rely for 
such work, which therefore I must undertake. 



(( 



DeQuincey says in his charming Reminiscences, I thank 
God for four things — 

"That I was born in England; in rural England; in the 
holy Catholic Church of England; and that I had no older 
brothers, but only the gentlest of sisters, who never teased or 
annoyed my life out of me." 

In my turn I thank God for four things — 

That I was born in this Republic where every man has his 
chance; in New England, in this State, in this town and Village 
of Deep River;" that my lot was cast in a community of as hon- 
est, devout, attractive men and women as I have ever known. 
Unlike DeQuincey, I am thankful that I had older brothers, as 
well as younger, able, noble men, to whom I may allude later, 
and that I was a member of a united family, surrounded by delight- 
ful relatives and neighbors. 

While my recollection does not go back to the beginnings, it 



6 OLD DEEP RIVER 

reaches far enough back to enable me to recall the salient features 
of the early life of the village. 

Deep River is a later development of a section of the old his- 
toric town of Saybrook, owning its distinctive foundation to manu- 
facturing interests, and the fostering influences of the pioneers, of 
whom I shall give some account. 

It is common knowledge that in 1630 a patent was granted by 
the King to the Earl of Warwick, of London and Plymouth 
Colony, then including what is now the State of Connecticut. In 
1632 the Earl of Warwick granted to Lord Say and Seal, and 
Viscount Brooke and several others, the Town of Saybrook, in- 
cluding what is now the village of Deep River. The above 
grantors became known as the proprietors of Saybrook, and as 
such granted the lands on which Deep River stands to Lieutenant 
William Pratte about 1670, who, in turn, conveyed the same to 
his sons-in-law, William Backus and John Kirtland soon after 
through whom the lands descended. It would take too much time 
to follow the succession of titles in detail, however interesting it 
might be. In 1790 ivory combs were first cut in the United States 
in what is now known as Centrebrook. 

Ivory combs were first made in this country by Andrew Lord, 
of Saybrook, Conn., about 125 years ago. He cut out the 
plates and the teeth by hand with a hand-saw; a slow and 
expensive process. John Graham, of Boston, and Mr. Tryon, 
of Glastonbury, made ivory combs about the same time on a small 
scale, the latter person using machinery. Ezra and Elisha Pratt, 
of Hartford, also manufactured the article about seventy-five years 
ago, cutting the teeth by hand, like Mr. Lord. Abel Pratt, of 
Saybrook, made ivory combs 115 years ago. He sawed 
the plates by hand and two hundred and fifty were considered a 
good day's work; vi'hereas by the present improved processes, 
over four thousand can be sawed out in one day by one man. He 
cut the teeth, however, with circular saws, and machinery moved 



OLD DEEP RIVER 7 

by hand and afterwards by wind. Ezra Williams also commenced 
the same business in Saybrook soon after Mr. Pratt, and began to 
saw plates by machinery moved by water-power. This establish- 
ment afterwards was known by the name of George Read & Co. 
Great improvements have been made there in the machinery, and 
at one time nearly all the ivory comb business in the country was 
done by that firm. Various other attempts to carry on this busi- 
ness have been made, most of which have not succeeded. 

The present ivory comb business was started by Phineas Pratt at 
Fall River now known as Centrebrook — as a practical business by 
Phineas Pratt — at or before 1813. In 1813 George Read, brother- 
in-law of Phineas Pratt, bought of him a one-half interest in the 
business which subsequently was transferred to Deep River near 
the present large factory, probably on account of the water power 
there. From that date, mainly under the enterprise and ability of 
George Read, the village took a firm foundation in manufactures. 

The origin of the name of the village is not certainly known, 
but probably it arises from the depth of some stream near by. 

I can recall the time when there was neither doctor nor 
lawyer in the village, and the clergyman was a new feature. In 
my father's earlier time there was neither church nor minister in 
the village. He used to go to Centrebrook — then called Petti- 
paugh — to attend church. Parson Hovey preached there, who, as 
I have heard my father say, used to pray one hour by the watch. 

The Baptist Church here was started mainly by Deacon 
George Read in his parlor, and for many months services were 
conducted there. My father, I think, did more than anyone else 
to aid him. As members increased the services were transferred 
to the school house, near where the chapel stands. Later, mainly 
through the initiation of Deacon Read, and his financial aid, the 
present building for worship was constructed — though not with its 
present commodious appointments. Later the old school house 
was taken for use as a chapel. In the front yard where now 



8 OLD DEEP RIVER 

stands the parsonage, facing on River Street, was a blacksmith's 
shop. The shop was removed, and the present parsonage was 
erected, though some improvements have been made upon it. 

In 1830 the Baptist church was formed. George Read and 
Gilbert Stevens were the first deacons, most excellent men and 
citizens. 

In 1833 the Congregational Society was organized. George 
Spencer was the first deacon. Later John Marvin became one — 
both able men and good citizens. If you would see a good por- 
trait of Deacon Spencer look up Charles Marvin, though the 
grandfather was rather the better looking. 

I heard Mr. Marvin say, recently, that as he was the grand- 
son of two deacons, and a nephew of two ministers, he really 
thought the community ought not to expect much from him. 

When I lost my mother in my fifth year Aunt Lydia Marvin 
took me home for some three weeks, and her sister, Mrs. Sedley 
Snow, took my younger brother home for the same time, till our 
home could get settled. That was the way things were done in 
those days. What women lived here then! I have never seen 
their superiors — seldom, very seldom, their equal; so high-minded, 
so pure, so kindly, so sincerely, intelligently, practically Christian 
were the women of the days of the Founders. Two I have 
named — Aunt Sally Read, Aunt Ann Shailer, Mrs. Thomas Den- 
ison, Mrs. Russell Jennings, Mrs. Julius Post, Mrs. Hope 
Shailer, Mrs. Henry Wooster, Mrs. John Rogers, my dear 
mother whom I lost, my step-mother, Mrs. Jesse Kingsley — but I 
cannot call the roll, and, were these sainted women living, should 
not dare name them in public. 

Referring to the origins, I may say that I think the principal 
original settlers, after Backus and Kirtland, very few in number, 
were the Bushnells and Southworths. Up to the time of Deacon 
Read and of my father, I think there were absolutely no public in- 
terests. There was no church, no store, no wharf, and no factory. 



OLD DEEP RIVER 9 

Deacon Read and my father were brothers-in-law. I have been told 
that my father helped build the first store, the first wharf, and the first 
factory. The factory was a small one on the Winthrop Road, later 
owned by Ezra Williams. The store was known as the Green Store 
and still stands, enlarged, on the triangle opposite the post-office. It 
was kept many years by my father, who usually took about a week 
to get to New York and as long to return, on a sloop. It was a 
three weeks' journey on an average to go to the City to make his 
purchases. My father lost his health in the height of his business 
activities, which he never fully recovered. He made others pros- 
perous, but did not himself realize the fruits of his enterprise. 
George Read was far and away the chief factor in promoting the 
general prosperity of the village. He with Deacon Spencer, John 
Rogers, Alpheus Starkey, Julius Post, and a few^ others, began the 
manufacture of ivory combs in the little red factory right by the 
dam. Deacon Read, however, had the largest interest, and was 
decidedly the ruling genius of the enterprise. Most of the other 
owners worked as manual laborers in the factory, on the same 
terms as all the others, but Deacon Read was the business man in 
charge of markets, finances, and the policies of the company 
generally. 

How intimately I knew, and how well I remember. Deacon 
Read! He was a man about six feet in height, clean shaven, 
blue-eyed; a quiet, silent man. Mainly under his management 
the business became rapidly prosperous, and brought in recruits as 
laborers from abroad. 

My impression is that, when Deacon Read began in the village, 
it could not have numbered much over two hundred people, and 
that, when he died, the number must have grown to nearly one 
thousand. The Deacon was personally a very saving man, and 
yet very generous and public-spirited. He was born in the village, 
a very poor boy, and his father's family were little known. He told 
my brother Henry that the first money he earned in the village was 



10 OLD DEEP RIVER 

from shad fishing. He said, " Henry, I earned over one hundred 
dollars that season, and I put every cent of that money in the bank, 
and I have never had less than that there since." 

My first general recollections of the village go back to about 
1840, when the place had taken a fair start. The village, like 
most villages of that time, v^^as mainly self-contained and self- 
supporting. There was no Valley Railroad, no Shore Line;" 
even the steamers were recent and ran at inconvenient hours. If 
one came from New York he had to land at about 2 A. M., and 
if anyone wanted to go to Hartford he had to go on board at the 
same hour. It was better going to New York, leaving for that 
city at about 8 P. M. The result was that almost everything eaten 
or used was made or raised in the village or nearby. In my boy- 
hood I never heard of such a thing as ready made clothes, or 
shoes. They were nearly all made in town, and always to order, 
unless made at home. We had two shoemakers, each of whom 
usually employed three or four men with him. In those days, in 
winter, high topped boots, reaching nearly to the knees, were 
worn, and a favorite use of the legs of such, when finally worn 
out, was to make covers for baseballs. I think quite as much time 
was spent in repairing shoes and boots, as in the making of them. 
Great economy was exercised in shoe leather. We boys used to 
go barefoot three or four months in the year. I used to be routed 
out about five o'clock in the morning to drive cows to pasture, 
and, in the season of frost, was glad to find a place where a cow 
had lain down in the night, to warm my feet. 

Mr. H. G. Loomis for many years was the tailor of the 
village, and usually employed some half dozen men and women in 
his work. Then there were tailoresses, excellent women, who 
went to the house, and sewed up the family generally, for the 
season: — a great trial to me, for my new mother — an excellent, 
thrifty woman, used to turn my father's cast-off clothes inside out, 
brush and sponge them, and have them made over for me. To 



OLD DEEP RIVER 11 

add to the hopelessness of the situation, the neighbors used to 
remark how nicely Mrs. Mather made those children look. 
I think I was nine years old before any new cloth found its way to 
my back, and I do not recall to have ever felt since so proud of 
my wardrobe. 

I was compelled to wear clean checked aprons to the district 
school, making me look like a girl, I thought, so I used to take 
them off before going into the school room, and hide them in the 
woodpile, near the entry, and was careful to put them on before 
going home. Unfortunately one day I had to go home at recess 
and forgot to put on my apron. Of course inquiry was made, 
and I stood convicted. 

I remember well Mrs. Azubah Kingsley used to come to 
us about six in the morning, get her meals with us, and work as 
long as she could see, and for a day's work got just two Yankee 
shillings, thirty-three and one-third cents, for a day of about thir- 
teen hours. 

There were no city department stores in those days. About 
everything used — even to dry goods — was bought and sold in the 
village. In the green store," then run by Sedley Snow, the 
whole north side was devoted to dry goods, and Reynolds Marvin, 
his nephew, then a clerk, was noted for his skill in buying what the 
ladies would be likely to want, and equally for his tact in persuad- 
ing them that they ought to buy what he had selected. He 
later became a member of one of the large firms in the wholesale 
dry goods business in New York. The dressmaking was done all 
in town. As for bonnets and hats for women, well ! they were 
not as particular then. 

The industries of the place were much more varied. Dea- 
con Gilbert Stevens, later associated with Felix Starkey, did quite 
a large business at the saw mill, located at Saw Mill Hill, and got 
most of his logs from the surrounding country. He employed 
quite a number of men. Thomas Denison, the father of Horace 



12 OLDDEEPRIVER 

Denison, did a large business in vessel building, where the rail- 
road depot now stands. I have seen many a good schooner, sloop, 
and barque, launched from there. He also employed quite a num- 
ber of men. 

In the 40' s and the 50' s there was a large commerce with 
sailing craft. From our wharf, the white wings were always in 
sight, often twenty or thirty at a time. All the way from Say- 
brook to Hartford you would see canvas spread. Middletown was 
then a considerable port of foreign entry; Hartford also. Now I 
come from Hartford down and do not see a single sail. 

There were several carpenters, and joiners, who built the 
houses. George Bailey was one. A raising" was a great 
feature, calling the neighbors together for a half day and it was 
followed by cider and doughnuts. We boys were usually around. 

There was a great deal done in stone quarrying. I well re- 
member when the quarry back of our place, and of Horace Deni- 
son' s, was worked by several men, some years. So, on the ceme- 
tery grounds, a good deal of quarrying was done. I should say 
thirty to forty men were sometimes so employed. Quite a large 
business was done in shipping stone to New York. I think the 
brown stone of the Portland quarries competed too strongly, so 
that all quarrying in the village died out. It is rather retributive 
that in its time the brown stone business has practically died out, 
it being found that brown stone would not stand northern weather. 

As I remember the village in the forties and fifties it was 
generally prosperous, and happy. New business came in. 
Ulysses Pratt started the piano key board business, which has 
grown to large dimensions. Elder Russell Jennings continued the 
gimlet, and bit business which my father started, and which has 
also achieved a great success. 

The amusements were mainly among the young. The 
monthly sewing society was conducted for years. The ladies 
gathered about 3 P. M. and stayed until about 9, always at some 



OLDDEEPRIVER 13 

private house. A good supper rewarded them. There was much 
harmless gossip. The minister came in to say grace, and enjoy 
the supper. The men, particularly the younger, came in the 
evening and often escorted the young ladies home. The boys in 
the winter made much of sliding down hill and skating. A favor- 
ite sport was cullying on the ice, on the large quarry, that used to 
be in front of the high school lot, opposite the cemetery. When 
the ice got to be ten or twelve inches thick, saws and axes came 
into play. Cakes of ice, a little more than two feet square, were 
sawed. Ropes and rails in case of disaster were kept on the bank. 
Then the problem was to cut and run across from end to end and 
not go down. Every cake had to be stepped on, about in the 
middle, or the boy would at once slip and sink. More than that, 
a boy could not tarry as he stepped. It was touch and go. He 
must keep moving, and step swiftly and carefully. Above all, he 
could not turn back. He must go across, or go down. Quite 
often some luckless boy would fall into the ice cold water, but I 
never knew of anyone being drowned. 

In maturer years I have seen considerable business being done 
that seemed to me much like cullying on ice. Snow forts, quite 
military attacks and defences, were common. 

To catch and impound fiies was quite a feat. The pro- 
gramme was to cut a hole with our knives about two inches square, 
half the depth of the desk, and an inch from the front; through 
this inch we bored a hole large enough to pass a fiy through, then 
we cut a piece of glass, the size to fit into the pen. Then we 
were ready for business; to catch flies, pass them through the 
channel to the pen till we got 20 or 30 in at a time, when the situ- 
ation became interesting. As all this was done in school hours, 
we had to have a large atlas or slate ready for quick use, and we 
had to keep one eye and ear open for the teacher. Altogether, it 
was a dexterous and somewhat hazardous piece of work. I do 
not commend it to scholars of today if any are present. 



14 OLDDEEPRIVER 

Spelling classes in the evening at the school house were a 
great diversion, and something of an education. We used to form 
in long lines, many fathers and mothers forming, and "spell 
down" as we termed it. As fast as anyone spelled wrong he or 
she was sent to the foot. Whoever reached and kept the head of 
the class was very proud, and was greeted with great applause. 
I am not sure that it would not be a good practice to revive, and 
am of the opinion that some college graduates could attend those 
classes with advantage. 

Then we used to have debating societies in the evening, in 
which old and young debated whether capital punishment should 
be abolished." The tariff came in for its share of consideration. 
While professionally engaged in North Carolina, some few years 
ago, I found these customs still prevailing. 

In the summer time it was a great treat to drive down, in 
parties, to the seashore, usually to Westbrook, and spend the day, 
taking with us coffee, bread, butter, ginger bread, pies and other 
edibles enough to supply a regiment. We often dug our own 
clams; generally bought our oysters and lobsters, then sold at a 
very low price. After a long bath and swim, in which men and 
women joined, fires were made and clams, oysters and lobsters 
were all cooked by ourselves and a regular orgy ensued. Then 
for the swings, or other simple amusements, till time to drive 
home. Oh for the digestion of those days ! , How we ever sur- 
vived it all is a mystery. Julius Post used to say that he heard a 
good deal about going to the sea for one's health, but it was his 
opinion it required a man with a very strong constitution to go to 
the sea for his health. 

Another great resource was our fishing expeditions. We 
would take two large sail boats, bring on board tents, kettles, char- 
coal, hard bread, pork, potatoes, onions, the never failing ginger 
bread and pies in abundance, and sail out for bluefish. At nights 
we would land and pitch our tents, sometimes on Nauem Keag, 



OLDDEEPRIVER 15 

sometimes on Fishers Island, where there was a fine spring of the 
purest fresh water submerged always above half tide, free and clear 
at low tide. Captain Bates was usually the chef. We always 
caught more fish than we could eat, and sometimes would make a 
quick, heavy haul. After landing, a fire was started, fish were 
cleaned and cut in small squares, and Captain Bates began his 
functions with due order and solemnity. First, sliced pork at the 
bottom, then successive layers of hard bread, fish, potatoes, onions, 
corn and any other vegetable. As fast as each layer was com- 
pleted Captain Bates would waltz around the kettle, to give vent 
to his satisfaction. When the chowder was completely cooked 
it was served, till it seemed as if we never could or would stop 
eating. Those were great days. Personally it has been many a 
weary year since I have had the common comforts of life as I 
used to enjoy them in those days. When the Shore Line" 
stretched the railroad bridge across the river between Saybrook and 
Lyme, Julius Post never forgave them. It required him, and his 
associates, to lower their masts, when they went under it, to go 
a-fishing, and he considered it a rank and horrible breach of a long 
honored custom, as well as of his individual rights. 

Dancing in those days was regarded as an invention of the 
Evil One. Cards were never permitted. Checkers were dis- 
couraged. Novels of any kind were strictly forbidden. I was 
brought up on "Pilgrim's Progress," "Baxter's Saint's Rest," 
Josephus," and similar literature. George Read, the only son 
of Deacon Read, had a library of several hundred volumes — more, 
probably, than all the rest of the village had — and he was very 
willing to lend his books. At last I borrowed " Deer Slayer," 
one of Cooper's Indian stories, always reading it in secret and 
hiding it, when not reading it, in the shavings barrel. One day my 
mother had occasion to go to the barrel, and, reaching for shav- 
ings, plumped her fingers right on the book. Of course I was 
charged with the fault, confessed, and was compelled to return 



16 OLDDEEPRIVER 

the book. This required me to borrow the book again, and the 
next time I hid it in the hay mow, where the maternal fingers 
never penetrated. 

A few families had the social instinct, and gift of entertain- 
ing, in a very quiet way, usually at teas (suppers as they were 
then called), at which were served biscuit, doughnuts, Connec- 
ticut loaf cake (Riz cake it used to be called) all made and baked 
as nowhere out of Connecticut was it ever done, with fine quince, 
or peach, preserves. It makes me homesick to describe those 
tables and times. Mrs. Julius Post was the leader in those cam- 
paigns, and the young folks were eager to accept her invitations. 
Mr. Post after his long day's work in the Ivory Factory, would 
often drop to sleep, which no one would notice. One evening 
about 9 o'clock he was waked by the company leaving. Quick as 
he could speak, he said, Don't go, don't go because I have been 
asleep. I can go to sleep any time when I have good company." 
I recall nothing neater. 

I must say a few words as to the personnel of the village. 

I have already referred to Deacon Read as a silent man, but 
he was very observing and greatly interested in all improvements. 
If a new house were going up, he usually several times inspected 
the work, sometimes making suggestions. As to his own affairs, 
and public affairs, so far as they were influenced by him, his reti- 
cence was trying, and often ungracious motives and sayings w^ere 
attributed to him. At one time his wife said, "Mr. Read, do you 
know the people say you did so and so?" "No, I did not do 
that, but I do worse things" was all the satisfaction given. On 
another occasion a neighbor said, "Deacon Read, do you know 
they are saying so and so about you.?" "No! Why don't they 
get the right things" was all the attention paid to it. He was 
very active, making the rounds of the village several times a day. 
The stock direction given to anyone trying to find him was: 
"Stand at the corner in front of his house till he comes around; 



OLD DEEP RIVER 17 

that is the quickest way." At evening chapel services he was the 
leader and regulator in a few pithy words. I recall that one eve- 
ning the people sang the hymn containing the words "I can but 
perish if I go, I am resolved to try." At the conclusion the 
Deacon said, ' No one ever perished there" — that was all. 

Fountain Hill Cemetery, organized in 1851, I think was 
wholly of his initiation. He certainly established it on a permanent 
basis. It would be of itself a memorial of high value. Except 
for Deacon Read I do not think we would have had a parsonage, 
or chapel, until at least many years later. The improvements in 
schools and roads were largely due to him. George Chapman, of 
Old Saybrook, was a silver gray whig. In the Birney campaign, 
conducted by the abolitionists, in the old days. Deacon Read met 
Mr. Chapman in the street. "Whom are you going to vote for 
this fall," asked Mr. Chapman. "Mr. Birney," answered the 
Deacon. " Whom are you going to vote for Mr. Chapman.?" 
"Well, I think I shall be a little conservative." "Conserative, 
conservative, what is that Mr. Chapman.?" "Partly right- 
partly wrong." I have never heard a better definition. 

I remember when he was building up Beaver Dam back of 
his house, where Mr. W. B. Stevens now lives, redeeming it 
from a mud-hole. It was a long, expensive job. I think the 
improvements cost him more than all the other improvements. 
It has been my lot to meet many men in many walks of life, in 
many lands, but I do not recall meeting anyone who, with the 
means at his hands, and in the situation in which he was placed, 
accomplished more. Deacon Read used to say that he thought 
no Christian man ought to accumulate over ^25,000 and I 
think he lived up to his principles; earning largely and giving 
liberally for those days. In his later days he was unfortunate 
financially, not at all through his fault. He died compara- 
tively poor, as most people do whom the Lord cares much about. 
He founded and developed a village; others reaped the ultimate 



18 OLD DEEP RIVER 

rewards. It is fitting that a granddaughter of Deacon Read, Mary 
McClellan Wooster, with the last degree of care and foresight in 
estabhshing a magnificent endowment, should have assured the 
perpetuity of the church which he did most to found, and of the 
cemetery which, by an unusual forethought, for his day, he pro- 
jected, and established. 

Russell Jennings — Elder Jennings as he was called — was a 
very able, generous, public-spirited man. The evidences of the 
latter still remain. He was my true friend when I needed one 
and was my first employer for wages. When I wanted to go to 
Suffield my father's circumstances, owing to prolonged illness, for- 
bade him to help me. I saw no better way than to go to work 
for the Elder. At that time the handling of gimlets and packing 
were all done in the ell-building of his residence, and I was taken 
on, with my headquarters there. About five o'clock I usually 
drove to the factory to bring in the day's work. There the bits 
were packed and boxed and I had to take them to the wharf for 
shipment on the steamboat to New York. So I usually worked 
from 7 A. M. to 9 P. M. I got seven cents an hour, and aver- 
aged thirteen hours a day. I was not over fourteen or fifteen 
then, and ninety-one cents a day to me was a big sum. I have 
been paid better prices since for work, but I recall no compensa- 
tion that seemed to me so great as that did then. 

Later I taught school, or rather the school taught me, one 
winter, in our north district. I discovered that to teach anything 
it was necessary for the teacher to know a little something about it 
himself. I got thirty-eight dollars a month — three dollars a month 
more than was usually paid, an impressive sum. Later at the 
Albany Law School I wrote a book nights, for which Banks Bros, 
paid me enough to meet half my expenses at the Law School. 

But I am diverging. Elder Jennings gave a large lot to the 
Cemetery Association and founded a liberal trust fund in the inter- 
est of the Baptist Church. As leisure grew upon him he sur- 



OLDDEEPRIVER 19 

rounded himself with Greek books and critically studied the New 
Testament, making some valuable suggestions. He differed in 
theology from Elder Shailer, a state missionary residing in the 
village, and a man of unusual acumen, and sagacity, in things of 
the spirit. Elder Shailer was a high Calvinist — quite the reverse 
of Elder Jennings. One day Uncle Emory, as we used to call 
Elder Shailer, leaning on a cane — he was always lame — as I 
passed, said to me: Frank, Jennings has got into a good deal 

of occupation now." "What is it. Uncle Emory .f"' "Why, 
having corrected all the mistakes into which the translators fell, 
he is now correcting the mistakes into which Infinite Wisdom 
fell." 

Uncle Emory had an orchard about a mile away, and one day 
asked me to go with him and help pick up his apples. As we 
reached the bars at the entrance of the orchard, he said. Now 
Frank, you get out and take down the bars," which I did. After 
driving in he threw out a large basket and said. Now you pick 
up the apples," and handed the basket to me. I did so, and he 
would pour them into the bags till all were filled; then as we were 
leaving, he said, "Now you put up the bars," which I did. As 
I drove off he said, "There Frank, I never enjoyed picking up 
apples more in my life." He had not picked up one. 

When I was home vacations Uncle Emory used to like to 
discuss theology with me, little as I knew about it. One day as 
we were getting in pretty deep. Aunt Ann Shailer (his wife), who 
was sweeping the room, and listening as she swept, said to us, 
'What do people do who don't have such clear views?" The 
discussion was speedily suspended. 

Uncle Emory and Deacon Read were brothers-in-law; both 
married a Webb, the brothers of whom were unusual men and 
left something to their sisters. Deacon Read, as a business man, 
usually collected and distributed the legacies, of which there were 
several. One day Deacon Read went to Uncle Emory's as they 



20 OLD DEEP RIVER 

were seated at the table, and said, "Ann, I suppose you know 
William left you four hundred dollars. I am ready now to pay it 
over." After arrangements were made, as the Deacon was leav- 
ing Uncle Emory spoke up, " Brother Read, if any more legacies 
are left to Ann I don't want them reported. It is as much as I 
can do to live with Ann now." 

Uncle Emory was of a positive temperament, always said 
**no" at first to any request of his children. His daughter Louise 
was invited to go West, but her father had refused his consent. 
Still, knowing his idiosyncrasy, she concluded to get ready and on 
my return said to me, ' ' Frank, you know father. I wish you 
would find out whether he really means to let me go." A^Ieeting 
Uncle Emory soon after he said to me, " Frank, is Louise going 
West.''" "Yes," I answered. "But I told her she couldn't 
go." "I know you did, but it won't make any difference, she 
will go just the same." "I supposed she would," was the reply. 

Uncle Emory was a remarkable man and I sometimes think 
he is set to guard those who survive him here. 

For nearly twenty years we were fortunate in having in the 
Baptist church, where my father's family attended, two clergymen, 
Rev. Elisha Cushman and Rev. J. N. Chase, in immediate suc- 
cession; men of high character, sound learning, of great attrac- 
tiveness, and wide influence. I hope Mr. Chase, fortunately still 
with us and now in attendance, will pardon this reference to him 
in his presence. 

The domestic, social sentiment of the village was thoroughly 
democratic. There was no great wealth and few evidences of 
even what there was. There was very little difference in the style 
of living between the most prosperous and the average day laborer. 
No one kept more than one "hired help." I do not think that 
more than six or seven families in the entire village kept such con- 
tinually. The word servant was never used. Such places were 
prized. The highest wages then given were one dollar a week. 



OLDDEEPRIVER 21 

The hired help" always ate at the same table, and was 
considered on an entire equality with the family. I remember 
Jane Shipman, who, after disposing of the noon work, used to sit 
and chat and sew with my mother as any friend would. Jane 
married well. Later Nancy Doane lived on similar terms in our 
family. I can hear her now singing her sweet songs in a really 
musical voice as she sewed by my mother's side. I would rather 
to-day hear her croon "A Poor Wayfaring Man of grief hath 
often crossed me on my way, who sued so humbly for relief that 
I could never answer nay," than to go to the best opera. 

As a rule the "hired help" had been at the same school, sat 
on the same benches with the older children of the family, and the 
intimacy so formed was not disturbed by such later employment. 
Both the women I have named were refined, Christian women, 
whose companionship I should be sorry to exchange for that of 
many leaders in fashionable society. 

Very few even of the employers kept a single horse or in- 
dulged in any luxury not common to nearly all. There was not a 
single home in which any family in town was not welcome, and, 
usually, an occasional guest. The community of social interest 
and affection was perfect. 

Till after I was fifteen years old I do not recall seeing a 
single person in the village who was not native born. I think the 
first colored man seen there was Billy Winters, a real Christian 
man, a runaway slave. He first came to Deacon Stevens. We 
boys flocked to see him carry up from the brook a large tub of 
water on his head without spilling any. Deacon Read took Billy 
to his home, and he always sat at meals with the family. The 
workmen of the place were men of unusual intelligence and shrewd 
native humor. Uncle Bronson had gotten to be over eighty and 
was nearly blind. Ezra Moore was about seventy and retained his 
sight. I saw them meet one day. As Ezra Moore could see he 
spoke first. " Is that you, Uncle Bronson.? I thought you was 



22 OLDDEEPRIVER 

dead." "Well, Ez, I was in hopes you was," was the reply 
and they shook hands and talked in the most cordial manner. 

One of the wittiest residents as he was landing one early 
morning on the boat from New York after several days' absence, 
passing a friend who was taking the same boat for Hartford, in- 
quired of the neighbor, "Does anyone know anything about my 
pig.''" The neighbor answered, "Why, didn't you leave anyone 
to look after the pig.?" "Why, no," was the quick reply, I 
left him enough in his trough, if he's been prudent of it." It was 
certainly an original conception; the idea of a prudent pig. 

When Mason Snow was building the Alpheus Starkey house. 
Deacon Read, as usual, while it was being built, went in and 
looked about. As he was leaving he said, ' I don't believe I am 
going to Hke this house, Mr. Snow." After it was completed 
the Deacon went in again, and after inspection said, I think the 
house is all right after all, Mr. Snow." "What did you say," 
Mr. Snow was asked. "I told Deacon Read," he answered, 
"that fools usually jedged work half done." 

The village store was the Country Club. There were no 
"call-wagons" for orders; none for deliveries of any kind. The 
store was usually quite well filled between eight and nine in the 
evening, and, after purchases were made, there was the usual 
exchange of the news of the village. On one occasion Captain 
Albert Pratt, a successful captain of a schooner, had bought a place 
of four or five acres in the south end of the village, and there was 
much discussion pro and con as to the wisdom of his purchase. 
Finally Harry Southworth summed up the matter to general satis- 
faction — It's just the place Capt. Al wants — four or five acres 
of ground, a stunwall' around it, a story and a half house, can 
keep a cow and a pig and what on airth' more does a man 
want?" In my later years I am inclined to join his listeners in 
approval. 

It was a village of early marriages. A girl was engaged as a 



OLDDEEPRIVER 23 

rule before she reached twenty, usually at eighteen or nineteen. 
If she passed twenty-three or four she was considered perilously 
near perpetual maidenhood, and at twenty-five she was entered 
fairly on the list. A young man was expected as a matter of 
course to be engaged before he was twenty-one. At twenty-five 
he was an old bachelor. When married, the young couple usually 
remained at the home of the bride for several years, taking her 
full share of the work as before. The young man paid a small 
sum for board and was expected to save his earnings the best he 
could. In five or six years, generally after the advent of one or 
two children, they fledged out. The young husband would buy a 
lot and build a small house, using his savings as far as they would 
go, and, with the aid of a mortgage, pay the rest. If he paid the 
mortgage off in a few years, as well as supported his family, he 
was commended as a good provider." 

In my boyhood days I do not recall five people, of both 
sexes, past twenty-five, who remained unmarried. Marriage was 
regarded not as a matter of caprice, or of mere sentiment, but as a 
divine ordinance to be complied with. I think the marriages in 
those days were usually successful; that a positively unhappy mar- 
riage was a rare exception. I never heard of a divorce there, and 
never heard the word spoken. *'TiIl death us do part" was the 
inexorable law. It was an oft repeated monition of the older 
experienced matrons to girls approaching a marriageable age — 
"a girl should be very cautious about refusing her first offer." 

Family discipline in those days was very positive. Children 
obeyed automatically the commands of their parents. In later 
times, when complaints were heard of the lapse of such discipline, 
my father said it was a mistake; that there was as much family 
discipline as ever, only it was turned around— that now children 
governed their parents. Solomon was often quoted: Spare the 
rod — spoil the child." In addition to the ordinary physical 
punishment at home, if I got whipped at school I marched 



24 OLDDEEPRIVER 

home to get another. The rule was rigid, and the second whip- 
ping was usually severer than the first. There was sure to be 
some boy whose enmity I had incurred, who, going by my home, 
would shout old Frank Mather got a licking to-day." As a 
result I do not think I ever failed of the second punishment. 
I have questioned in mature years the justice of the second punish- 
ment without a hearing as to whether I was guilty, but my father 
lived his light. Still as I recall the thrashings I escaped, and 
richly deserved, I am not sure that I was excessively punished; 
probably only a fair average was maintained. 

Up to the time I was twenty-one I never heard of a case 
of malaria in town. There was some tendency to consumption, 
and in the fall an occasional case of typhoid fever. After a 
time Dr. Rufus Baker settled here. When I was about eighteen 
years old I had some fever and the doctor bled me till I nearly 
fainted. Then to recover from the effect of the treatment he 
sent me on a sea voyage with my brother Samuel to Australia 
and China, on the clipper ship "Nightingale." I think the 
doctor began with a charge of twenty-five cents for a visit. For a 
long time his charge was not over fifty cents. I recall at the home 
of Dr. Burr, an eminent physician in Westbrook, being asked to 
stay to dinner. The doctor said the only thing he could give us 
was clams. He had one patient who always paid him in clams. 

Of course there were no trained nurses in those days. All 
nursing was purely voluntary by neighbors who arranged two or 
three days beforehand, who, and when, they should serve. I have 
many times acted as such nurse. Mr. Wooster was the Dean of 
the nurses, reserved for critical cases. When he was drafted it 
was understood that someone was very sick. When Simon Shailer 
was not expected to live, his cousin, Dick Webb, knowing the 
traditional will power of the family, inquired — "Does Simon say 
anything.? What I want to know is does he say anything.?" 
Evidently of the opinion that the Webb stock was a match even 



OLDDEEPRIVER 25 

for the "pale horse." Simon lived more than forty years after 
that, well and strong. 

The interments were always in the village church yards, and 
the deceased were always borne upon a bier, carried on men's 
shoulders in relays. 

Those were busy days. Absolutely everybody was at work of 
some kind to some extent. A speculator, profiting by other 
people's labor, or property, would have been abhorred. We 
heard nothing then about women's rights; we did hear a great 
deal about women's duties. Economy was universal. In later 
boyhood, on my return from China, I found my father's affairs in 
such condition that I had to devote myself wholly to them. 

One Saturday night about six o'clock I found myself in Mid- 
dletown, too late for the boat. It would cost me five dollars at a 
hotel over Sunday, and the same amount for a carriage to take me 
to Deep River. I concluded there was no easier way for me to 
earn five dollars than to walk home, eighteen miles away, which I 
did, reaching there about eleven at night, and creeping in through 
a rear window to get to my bed. 

I recall one day when there was a note to be met, and we 
lacked half the amount required, in the bank, I rode horseback to 
Norwich and home, was fortunate in making a collection, and 
returned before 3 o'clock, after a horseback ride of over fifty 
miles, and took up the note. I frequently drove from Fair 
Haven, with a span of horses, after a hard day's work, and after 
supper, across North Haven, North Branford, North Guilford, 
North Madison, North Clinton and through Winthrop, home; 
reaching there about midnight, would put out my horses and go 
to bed. My case was not wholly exceptional. I may allude to it 
as I can speak from actual experience of the life of those days. 

We raised only one millionaire, who accumulated his wealth 
mainly in Chicago. By quite reliable authority I was assured that 
he had acquired three or four millions at least — I refer to Daniel 



26 OLDDEEPRIVER 

B. Shipman. Obadiah Dickinson, beginning as a quarryman, 
rapidly developed a talent for portrait painting, and, if he had 
lived, I think he would have become famous as an artist. George 
T. Spencer — Deacon Spencer's son — became a prominent lawyer 
in Central New York. If I may refer to my own family, my 
eldest brother Joseph died at thirty-three. President Wayland of 
Brown University said he was the ablest mathematician who had 
passed through his hands, and gave him a prize of fifty dollars in 
gold. Later Joseph was the second man in his class in Hebrew 
at Newton Theological Seminary. He concluded to go into 
business, and had made a very promising commencement in the 
West, when he died. 

The next brother, Samuel, was an eminent sea captain; 
made new records for speed in clipper ships, and stood unsur- 
passed in his profession. When the Union Defense Committee 
in 1861 in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, comprising the 
most eminent citizens of those cities, men of affairs, was organized 
in aid of the Navy, Samuel was the first man named by that com- 
mittee, and appointed to command by the Secretary of the Navy 
from the Commercial Marine. He was shot in command of his 
gunboat in March, 1862, and his body was sent north in a 
Government steamer. Commodore Dupont, under whom he 
served, wrote me a long letter of eulogy of him. Secretary Welles 
in general orders said Captain Mather had no superior in his rank. 
Commodore Forbes in San Francisco at a public dinner calling 
the roll of the eminent mariners whom he had bred, said, "and 
there was Samuel Mather; was there ever an abler seaman.'"' 
The Mather Post here was named after him. He only lived to 
be thirty-seven. My brother John died at thirty-three, remarkable 
for his ability as a commercial executive and as a salesman. My 
brother Henry, only two years younger than I, and who I 
thought would surely survive me, was promoted twice in the navy 
and was eminent as a mathematician. I have often wondered 



OLDDEEPRIVER 27 

how and why, the least of all the boys in merit, ability and attract- 
iveness should have survived them all. I can only follow St. Paul, 
who, when he got stuck, would fall back on the statement — "The 
election hath obtained — it was so decreed." 

It is strange the impressions of childhood. I could not have 
been over nine when it seemed borne in upon me that ultimately 
the care of the family, and the maintenance of the home, was to 
fall upon me. It seemed impossible of accomplishment. My 
father was the only head of a family in the village who had no 
business at his command, to hand down to his sons. How the 
"Esquire" as he was called, would get through, or his children, 
I could not see. I often said to myself, George Read will be all 
right, his father is the largest owner in the ivory factory. So with the 
Spencers, Rogers, and Starkeys. Mr. Denison had the ship yard 
for his sons. Deacon Stevens the saw mill for Henry, Samuel 
Snow would have his father's store, and so I went over the list; 
but I could see no chance for the Esquire's" boys. 

When Samuel was shot in 1862, at his funeral, I could hear 
the cousins sympathetically say "I am very sorry for the old 
Esquire, he will have to leave his place. Samuel has gone, Frank 
is now the eldest son and he is in poor health, and in a very pre- 
carious profession." 

But my father was a devout man, who really believed in, and 
who trusted in, an Over-ruling Providence. I used to say that 
such was his confiding trust, I really thought Providence would 
have created a new planet, if necessary, to see the old man 
through. He never left the place until 1878, and then he went 
to a region where questions of real estate are never raised. His 
widow lived there till 1890, and his posterity, I am informed, live 
there still. In his prolonged serious illness and misfortunes he 
was compelled to encumber his place. The Middletown Savings 
Bank used to be quite attentive. We were sure of a polite note 
twice a year at least, but now they wholly neglect us. 



28 OLDDEEPRIVER 

In Macaulay's essay on Warren Hastings, Macaulay says that 
when Hastings was a small boy, and his family were in misfortune 
he was told that his ancestors, the old Hastings family, had for- 
merly owned the great manor of Daylesford nearby, and he then 
determined that the family should recover that property. When 
Hastings was Governor General in India, he kept that resolution 
ever before him, and finally he accomplished it. 

While under impeachment for thirty years, he lived under the 
roof of the Manor House of Daylesford. So in illness and in 
health, on sea, and on land, in foreign lands as well, in many 
exigencies of very trj'^ing character, as the needle to the pole, the 
hearts of my father's children have turned steadily to the main- 
tenance of their native home. 

In those days relationship counted for more, I think, than it 
does now. My father's house was a refuge for all related to him, 
or connected with him. I have known poor widows to come and 
stay a year sometimes with children. My visits to Grandmother 
Webb, Uncle Ambrose, and Aunt Sally Webb were an absolute 
delight. The last time Aunt Sally saw me, she took my hands in 
hers, and raising her blind eyes said, May the God of Isaac and 
of Jacob, and your father's God be your God, and your children's 
God forever." 

But the prince of Uncles was Uncle David Jewett, my 
mother's brother, a truly knightly soul as I have ever seen. Hear- 
ing me say in the midst of a discussion The truth should always 
be told," he at once said, "By no means, my boy; always tell 
the truth if you tell anything, but there is a great deal of truth that 
should never be told." I was not then nine years old, but I have 
never forgotten his words and they influence me to this day. 

I never saw my Grandfather Jewett, but President Carter of 
Williams College referred to the Yale Triennial, and found that 
my grandfather, David Moody Jewett, was the first of the name 
of Jewett to graduate at Yale. He was noted as a lawyer in Con- 



OLDDEEPRIVER 29 

necticut. 

It has been impracticable for me to give the names of all the 
old residents who would be well worth mentioning. My limits 
forbid. I have naturally dwelt longest on those whom I best 
knew and who were most illustrative of the old days. 

If undue prominence would seem to have been given to my 
father's family, it may be pardoned in view of the fact that they 
furnished some features of the village life not otherwise available. 

It has been my lot to see many places and much of life, not 
only in our country but in foreign lands, and I do not recall ever 
knowing of any community where life was higher, purer, more 
humane, or where comfort was more universal, or public and 
political conditions more correct. 

A quiet, patient industry ran parallel with a decided view of 
humor. I have tried faithfully to read Mark Twain, but his 
humor, in contrast with that on which I was brought up, af^^ects 
me as so artificial, and inferior, that I have never yet been able to 
read one of his books through. There was a genuine, self- 
respecting, mutually helpful comradeship. I have not seen its like 
since. I do not expect to see its like again on this earth. The 
remembrance of those days has been a solace, a hope and an 
inspiration. On land and on sea, in adversity and struggle, in 
illness and in foreign lands, as the old Hebrews in exile panted 
after their Jerusalem, so my heart has turned steadily to those fine, 
pure, noble days of my boyhood, and how often in my imagina- 
tion I have lovingly recalled those high, devout, heroic souls who 
have gone before. My affections seem to cling even to the very 
soil. William Winter in Shakespeare's England says In all 
true love of country there is literal love of the soil itself, 
* * * * and that sentiment is alike natural and creditable 
that inspires man's heart to desire that where he found his cradle 
he may also find his grave." 

One of my first visits on my return is always to the ceme- 



30 OLDDEEPRIVER 

/ 

tery; aided by such associations more vividly to revive the fond 
memories. Sometimes these old words come to my mind — 
" They softly lie, and sweetly sleep — low in the ground," and 
then I realize that that is only partly true. Their bodies do indeed 
lie in the repose of nature, but their souls are marching on. And 
then there recur to me those noble, classic words, not indeed 
freighted with the hope and assurance of Holy Writ, but finely 
expressive of the human hunger of the heart to rejoin those gone 
before. So Cicero, recalling by name those whom he had loved 
and honored, and whose loss he sorely mourned, broke out in his 
sonorous, majestic latinity: Oh praeclarum diem; cum ad 

ilium divinum animorum concilium caetumque proficiscar; cumque 
ex hac turba discedam." 

Oh! glorious day; when for that divine company and 
gathering of souls I shall set out; when from the crowd and 
turmoil of this life I shall depart. 

But I have not yet reached the dominant factor in the lives of 
the founders — which was the inspiration of their careers, and the 
guarantee of their success. It was their unfaltering faith in the 
things not " seen"— their swift obedience to their convictions — 
their unsparing self-denial in maintaining them. The Bible was 
their mainstay for instruction, comfort, and authority. One heard 
nothing of higher criticism (I call it the lower criticism) in those 
days. Family prayers were almost universal. The Sabbath was 
really a day kept holy unto the Lord. Preparation for it began 
Saturday night. When the older people were getting ready to 
spend the day with God, the children were taught scriptures and 
hymns. How often have I heard my father sing — 

"Lord, in the morning Thou shalt hear 
My voice ascending high. 
To Thee will I direct my prayer. 
To Thee lift up mine eye." 
and also — 



OLDDEEPRIVER 31 

" Oh for a closer walk with God, 
A calm and Heavenly frame, 
A light to shine upon the road 
That leads me to the Lamb." 
I can repeat every line of those hymns, though I do not 
remember to have seen them since my early boyhood. I could 
cite many other hymns. I asked a sincere, devout old Divine 
why those hymns were not sung in the churches now. His reply 
was they neither dare give them out nor sing them. It would 
require the people in some measure to live up to them. 

It must have been similar domestic scenes and associations in 
Scotland that inspired Burns to write "The Cotter's Saturday 
Night." 

"From scenes like these old Scotland's grandeur springs, 
"Which makes her loved at home — revered abroad. 
" Princes and Lords are but the breath of Kings, 
"An honest man's the noblest work of God." 
New England has furnished the seed corn of character that 
has been scattered all over the Union, particularly the Northern 
and Western states, from which has grown a degree of comfort, 
and of pure domestic life, beyond what has been known before, 
and has made our country alike the envy and admiration of all 
lands. 

I hope the incoming peoples who have replaced them will 
maintain the high standard set up by their predecessors. The 
founders were a praying people. 

If I may be so personal, relating an experience of solemn 
interest, my first distinct recollection is of my own mother, when 
I was probably near my fourth year, taking me after the noon 
dinner every day into the parlor, and as we knelt together, praying 
for me. So little did I realize its significance at the time that I 
used to look up at the family portraits and wonder that, no matter 
where we knelt, the eyes of those in the portraits seemed to follow 
us. She died when I was about five. Long after, in my thir- 



32 OLDDEEPRIVER 

tieth year, in sore illness, in foreign lands, those visits to the 
parlor all recurred to me. It seemed to me as if someone were 
saying to me, "As you look back over the pitfalls, dangers, and 
temptations you have passed, and seen how many by your side 
have fallen out, you must wonder how you have come through as 
well as you have. It is your mother's prayers that you owe your 
escape to. She made God promise to look after her boys. He 
has had a hard time of it, but He has kept His word, and that is 
why you have not gone down." It was all real to me. 

My years are about numbered, and my solicitude is that this 
town, so founded, shall retain the tone the founders gave it. I 
am not considering theology, or creed, or ecclesiasticism, pri- 
marily, or the future life with its destinies, but rather life here and 
now; the aggregate individual life. If the life of the founders is 
to be perpetuated, it must be by the same means employed by 
them. They were a Sabbath-keeping people. Saturday night, in 
both churches, prayer meetings were held, which were generally 
largely attended in preparation for the Sabbath. Sabbath was 
indeed a little long to us youngsters, but the atmosphere of sincere 
piety was appreciated even by us. We seemed really to feel as 
Gray expressed it — • 

"Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 

"And all the air a solemn stillness holds." 
I lay great stress on the observance of the Sabbath. If you 
will read Moses, and the prophets, especially Ezekiel, you will 
note the constant refrain of the prophet in predicting, and account- 
ing for, the desolation, the exile and captivity, of the chosen 
people — "You haven't kept my Sabbaths — you haven't kept my 
Sabbaths," over and over. History and present observation are 
all one way. That nation, that state, town, family, or individual, 
will deteriorate that fails to observe the Sabbath. The English 
Nation is now over one thousand years old. With all its faults, 
and they are many and great, they have been and are Sabbath- 



OLD DEEP RIVER. 33 

keepers, beyond all other nations, including our own. In travel 
I expect always to see a general attendance of English people at 
the church. I hope the automobile, and the golf sticks, will not 
be allowed to lessen the attendance at church, and that parents 
will be as faithful to their children, as the founders were to theirs. 

If you will turn to the fifth chapter of Revelations you will 
find the words "golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers 
of saints." Uncle Emory said to me thirty years ago, 'Frank, 
this generation is living on the prayers of the last twenty-five years. 
What the next generation is going to do I don't know." Arthur 
Mitchell said, "There is no Heaven in the wide universe of God 
for a prayerless soul." It is equally true that there is no place of 
safety on this planet for a prayerless people. The forces of evil 
are too prevalent, too powerful to be overcome; the poison of sin 
is too deeply seated to be eradicated by any human power. 
There is one link that connects man's frailties with omnipotence; 
it was that on which the Founders relied, and not in vain. 

I have made reference to subjects to which I seldom allude, 
and never without shrinking, but as I have stood before you I have 
seemed to see the forms of the noble, heroic Founders gathering 
about me, almost as visibly as I see you, and to hear them com- 
manding me as of old, to say one word at least for the moral and 
spiritual welfare of the village which they helped to found; for the 
Christianity, so dear to them, which they labored to establish. 



Note — It has been considered that it would be interesting to 
to give some statement of the present development of the village 
described in the foregoing address. 

Pratt, Read & Co., when running full, employ 425 men; the 



34 OLD DEEP RIVER 

Pratt Read Player Action Co., about 150. In the new factory it 
is expected to employ about 300. 

Comstock, Cheney & Co., of Ivoryton employ, when business 
is good, about 700. 

There are several other factories in town. Also a newspaper. 
The New Era, with a good circulation. There are sixteen stores 
in town. The population is about 2400, of which about 3-5 are 
American and 2-5 are foreign. 

The religious census taken last spring showed 381 American 
families; 56 Swedish families; 45 German families; 41 Polish 
families; 19 Irish families; 18 Italian families. 

There is a Baptist Church; a Congregational Church; a large 
Roman Catholic Church; two Swedish Churches and a Christian 
Science Association. 



1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRtSS 

II 



III 
014 110 343 P 






,;-»>» 



M 'M "«- 



-•..«jili 



' 9. H 





I • 







LIBRf'i^Y OF CONGRtSS 

I 



II !'!!!!!.:,:,. 



111!!' ! ; i 

43 S* 4 



